Bites
by Ooonicorn
Summary: Merlin and Arthur have hated each other for years, but then one day, in their last year of high school, it just clicks and years of repressed sexual tension comes flooding back with full force. A story about how two boys overcome societies expectations and just live for each other. Modern AU.
1. Chapter 1

Merlin really didn't want to go to school today; the first day of the year was always the worst. You never did any work in class and all you could do was listen to the teachers rambling on about 'how important this year was' and 'this is when you decide what your future will hold'. He walked down stairs, trying his hardest to look sick and went to his mother. "Mum, I think I caught a cold". Hunith took one look at her son and shook her head. "Go and get ready for school." Merlin sighed dramatically and trotted off, back up the stairs and prepared himself for a day full of torture.

Arthur loved school. It wasn't his number one choice of places to be, of course, but he fit in quite perfectly there. He was captain of the footie team, and therefore treated like an absolute god; which didn't hurt. Everyone knew him, and almost everyone adored him. It was a lot better than how things were at home, where his dad was constantly harping at him about university and family business and the stock market and all of that nonsense that Arthur didn't care for. He did well in school, and had already been accepted to all of the universities he applied to, but somehow those things seemed to loop in his father's mind like nothing else. As usual, he was left to fend for himself for breakfast. A cup of coffee it was. The first day was always easy, it was more like a walk down the red carpet for him and his friends. He looked forward to it.

Merlin was late. Of course he was! It's not like today wasn't already bad with his old car that had finally craped out half way to school, or the fact that his mum had refused to come pick him up and drive him the rest of the way to school; but now, it had started raining and he still had about a five minute walk before he even reached the school gate.

Arthur was caught somewhere in between worry and indifference about the fact that he was running late to school on the first day. On one side, he hated being late to anything that he was responsible for attending, but on another, this was his final year at school, who cared anyway? So he took his time, enjoying the drive. His car was...an orgasm on wheels, in all honesty. A birthday gift from his father; that had been very helpful in impressing various girls (or women, if he was lucky enough to go out on the weekends). Plus it certainly gave him a bit of edge over Leon and Gwaine and the rest. He saw a kid walking on the side of the road, and he frowned. That sucked, his car must've broken down. Or his parents are awful. He pulled up next to the kid and rolled his window down, "Hey, do we go to school together?" he asked, not entirely recognizing the boy.

Merlin was deep in his thoughts about horrible parents who make their children walk in the rain and muttering about how when his mother was old enough, she was being shipped to the most terrible rest home he could find. "That'll teach her." He grumbled to himself. The rain had started to come down heavy than before and by now, after only two minutes of walking in the rain; his skinny jeans were completely soaked and his thin top and cardigan, which he assumed would have been fine, according to last night's weather report, were also soaked; leaving Merlin shivering. He heard someone speak to him and turned to look. He couldn't quite make out the persons face, but then the voice clicked into place and he glared. "Yes, we do." He said pointedly and continued walking.

Arthur rolled his eyes. Great. Of all of the people he was trying to be kind to, it had to be one of the little brats that hated him simply because they were jealous. "Are you fucking stupid? Get in the car, dumb arse, I'll drive you!" Why did he bother at all with these plebeians? The kid was obviously soaked to the bone, and needed Arthur's help. That had always been Arthur's problem, trying to help people who obviously were too stubborn to accept the offer of kindness. He felt bad for people, and that always got him into situations like this.

Merlin ignored Pendragon in favour of walking in the rain. Anything was better than spending /any/ amount of time with Arthur Pendragon. They had never gotten along, ever, in the whole time they had known of each others existence. The first day they had met, Arthur had been bullying one of the lower levels around and Merlin had come to the poor boys defence. Words had been spoken, threats had been thrown down and they had ended up calling each other, either a 'Prat' or an 'Idiot', then parted ways and had always glared at the other when in forced company. The rain was still coming down heavy, but Merlin would not relent; he hated Pendragon and would never allow himself to be pitied by the man.

Arthur sighed. "You're a fucking idiot, Emrys, as usual. Have fun being late to your first class, arse hat." And with that, Arthur continued on his merry fucking way. God, that Merlin kid was such a little shit. "I try to do my good deed for the fucking decade, and he is too prideful to let me help him, of course." Arthur mumbled to himself, increasing his speed, not caring that it was unsafe to drive that way in the rain. He was pissed. He took a sip of coffee from his cup in a failed attempt to calm down. The brat should be grateful for Arthur to even acknowledge his existence. Arthur was the king of this fucking school, yet Merlin just hadn't learned to respect his betters. He really did hate the kid. He just hoped they didn't have any classes together this year.

Merlin pulled out a cold hand from his pocket and flipped one off while mouthing, 'Fuck you!' to the vanishing car. He checked his semi dry phone and saw that he was only ten minutes late for class; but looked around and saw that he had been wrong with his earlier prediction and was actually about fifteen minutes away from school. "Shit!" He swore loudly, now slightly regretting not taking up the prats offer of a lift. Now he was going to be /really/ late and incredibly cold.

Arthur sipped his coffee rather aggressively as he walked through the masses of people grinning at him and slapping his back. He'd pulled his Ray-Bans onto his face before he'd gotten out of the car, successfully keeping people from noticing just how melancholy and disgruntled he was that morning. "You look like a douche in those." Gwaine teased, elbowing Arthur light heartedly. Arthur thought he looked rather nice that day, actually. Jeans and a blue button-up shirt accompanied with a leather jacket were rather trendy, wasn't it? But Arthur guessed that with the coffee and the sunglasses and the boat shoes, he did look like a bit of a posh snob. "Can it, Gwaine. I've had enough lip this morning." Arthur grumbled as he slid into his desk at the back of the classroom. He ran his fingers through his hair and took another gulp of coffee.

As hard as he tried, he wasn't getting to school any faster; in fact, he felt as if he was moving at the pace of one km per hour. His clothes may be soaked, but luckily his bag had a water protector on the inside, so his books and other belongings were safe. He reached the gate at half past nine, and gained a strange look from the office lady as he tramped in through the main entrance to sign in. He collected his new timetable from the woman at the desk and saw that he had English literature first...well, what was left of his first period and ran down the hall and up some stairs to come bursting into his assigned classroom.

Fuckin' awesome; Great. As if his morning didn't suck enough, now he'd found out he had to start every morning with a class with Merlin Emrys; Fantastic! Arthur groaned, sinking lower in his chair. As he'd predicted, Merlin was late, and still soaking wet, still an idiot. With his luck, Merlin would be sat right next to him. Were there any other empty seats in the class...? No of course not. Why would there be? Arthur had the urge to chuck his coffee at Merlin's head and just leave class right now, but he tried to remain calm.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, sir!" Panted Merlin, "but my car broke down and then I couldn't get a ride the rest of the way to school and then it started raining and I-" The teacher held up a hand and just nodded to a seat at the back of the class. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to at least make it look like he hadn't just tried to drown himself; although, id he was to tell his mum that he had walked in torrential rain and /declined/ a ride, she would probably jump to that conclusion. He sat down with a huff and leaned back in his chair, slowly stretching his muscles that were now cramped with the cold and let out a deep breath. He rolled his shoulders and went to grab his books from his bag when he saw the face that had haunted him for most of his high school education. "Oh, fuck!" Merlin said, a bit too loud to go un noticed by the teacher, earning him a sharp look.

Arthur glared at Merlin, "Like I'm happy to be sitting next to you for the rest of the year either. Listen, you mind your own damn business and keep your smart comments to yourself, and I'll leave you be. I don't know you, and you certainly don't know a thing about me, so let's just leave each other alone. Do you understand, or do I have to use less syllables?" Arthur whispered in a sharp tone, keeping his gaze on the whiteboard rather than even glancing at Merlin.

Merlin scoffed, "Oh, I know you alright!" He whispered back harshly, "Arthur Pendragon: King Prat of the school thinks he owns everyone and everything in it. Well let me tell you something, Ar-thur, you aren't gonna get me to bow down to your every whim." He took out a pencil and his sketch book and started drawing furiously; he wouldn't be able to concentrate on the lesson after this little 'discussion' and he had missed half of the class anyways; it was just like he said earlier, the first day back was always the worst, but he had a feeling this was not going to be his year.

"You know what, /Mer/lin? You're right; I do think I own everyone and everything in this school, because I do. I have every last one of these fucking sheep underneath my thumb, because I am talented and gorgeous and fucking special, alright? And I will personally make your life a living hell if you don't stop mouthing off to me. You don't know anything about me, or my life. You work off of assumptions that are only partly true. But let me tell you, if you had to live my life, you'd shoot yourself in the head within five minutes, because you have no idea what I have to go through on a daily bas-" Arthur halted as his pencil snapped in half in his grip. He sighed. Breathe. Breathe. Emrys had no idea what he was talking about. "Just fuck off, alright? I have enough on my plate without you pretending like you know every detail of who I am."

"Oh, please!" He said with a harsh laugh, "Cut the whole 'I'm so fucking rich and my daddy gives me so much money I don't know what to buy next' act. You think you've got it hard?" He demanded, his voice growing slightly louder than a whisper, "Well, I believe its /you/ who doesn't know shit about anything. You've been accepted into your chosen Universities with open arms, you don't have to worry about money, and you don't have to worry if you'll have enough food to last you through the week! You have woman and men alike swooning every time you walk past, so please, spare me; I don't deserve to listen to the shit dribbling outta your arrogant mouth." He said all of this in one breath and was panting, his face the picture of true anger.

Arthur growled. "Just because I have a nice house and a good car and my choice of partners and universities doesn't mean a single fucking thing as to whether I'm happy or not, you ignorant prick. At least you have a parent that's alive /and/ loves yo-" Arthur's eyes went wide and he cut himself off. Merlin didn't need to know about that. No one did. Uther could spend all of the money in the world on Arthur, but Arthur knew that his father held him accountable for his mother's death, and didn't love him in the slightest. He was proud of Arthur, sure, but whenever he was around (not often at all) he was harping at Arthur about living up to the family name and not failing everyone who had ever counted on him, harping about how selfish Arthur was to go out with his friends rather than spend all day shadowing his father at the office and making connections. He remembered the first time he'd been caught drunk. He stank of pot and vodka, and his father had given him bruises all over his chest and a black eye for everyone to see. He shuddered at the memory. No one needed to know about that.

Merlin scoffed. "Please...you don't know anything." He said and turned his attention to his drawing. He /really/ didn't want to have to listen to Arthur right now; and it wasn't because he didn't want to hear him going on about the great privileges in his life, it was because in the last small unfinished sentence, he thought he heard a broken man speaking from behind the mask of an arrogant prat and he just couldn't take that. It would mean that all these years of hating had been because they didn't understand each other...he just couldn't let those hated years go.

Arthur was silent now, his heart thumping quickly in his chest. Maybe Merlin hadn't heard him. That was the last thing he wanted Merlin to hear and know. He couldn't allow himself to be vulnerable, certainly not around him. Merlin would likely mock him for being so weak, tell him he was selfish and useless and a waste of space. Arthur tried not to think about those things during school, he was too busy pulling off his high and mighty routine to contemplate his own subconscious self-loathing. He tried to focus on the teacher and stop worrying about what Merlin heard and knew.

When the bell rang for period two, Merlin quickly packed up his things and practically fled the room as to avoid Arthur. When out in the hall way, he sighed and continued to his next class; Classical Studies, at a normal pace. He sat at the back of the class again, this time by choice as it was situated directly under the heater, and prepared himself for a lesson on Mystery Cults in Classical Rome.

Arthur walked with Percival to his next class, Advanced Mathematical Decision Making. It was a joke class, taken only because it was his last year, who cared? He griped about Merlin the entire walk over. "I don't know," Percy mumbled. "He was in my Human Geography class last year. He seemed nice enough." Arthur rolled his eyes. "That's only because you're exactly his type, Perce." Arthur explained. Percy furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you on about?" Percy asked. "You're handsome but don't have the balls to tell him to cut the sass." Arthur explained. That had to be it, right? Merlin had to be a complete arsehole to everyone unless he wanted to date them, right? He couldn't allow himself to believe that Merlin was actually a decent human being.

The class was about to begin and Merlin couldn't get his mind off the conversation...well, he said conversation, but really it was more of a whispered verbal attack. Mr. Loran was just starting his lecture when a giggling Freya burst into class. "I'm sorry! I couldn't find the class" she smiled sweetly, but it was obvious that she had taken a detour and had a snogging session with her boyfriend Will. She flaunted her way up the rows of desks and sat next to her best friend. "Heya, Love, how are ya?" and gave Merlin a kiss on the cheek.

Arthur sat down next to Percival when they arrived in the classroom. Ms. Ward knew him from when they were all 14 and she'd taught his advanced algebra 2 class. She'd been his maths teacher every year since. She was young and sweet, and perceptible to Arthur's charms, as almost all women were. He put his headphones in, knowing that if he got in trouble for listening to music instead of paying attention, he could just smile and wink and he'd be forgiven. He tried to drown himself in his music rather than dwell on his unfortunate row with Merlin.

Merlin scoffed and pointed to his still wet clothes. "Not so great, huh?" Freya said solemnly, and then smiled. "So...did you hook up with that cute guy from Gwen's party?" She said with a knowing tone. Merlin blushed and turned to face the board, "I don't know what you're talking about." He said innocently. Freya just snorted and focused her attention on the board also.

Arthur loved music more than he loved much of anything, really. It had been an outlet for his frustrations since he was a boy with the world on his shoulders. None of his friends could know what he was going through, or how he felt, or what he wanted. But he'd found music at an opportune time, and found something, someone's, rather, he could relate to. Music had somehow given Arthur the strength to at least admit to himself who he was and what he wanted. When he was a boy, he'd imagine himself leaving his home and his father far behind. He would be Arthur Pendragon, proudly bisexual painter extraordinaire. It seemed silly now, but when you asked him where he'd be in ten years, he desperately wanted to answer a Bohemian flat/studio with a steady and frankly gorgeous boyfriend, rather than a CEO of a law firm with a wife and two children; which was probably the truth.

"Well that was fun." Merlin said happily. He had always enjoyed classics; learning about their ways of thinking and their beliefs. Today they had been talking about Mystery Cults in Classical Roman, which meant that Merlin was able to study his favourite God; Dionysus. He was the most interesting god by far, much better than Zeus, who just likes to fuck his relatives. Seriously, who does that? He thought disgusted and walked a bit faster to catch up to Freya, who was rambling on about Gwen's party the other week and how she was sure that  
Merlin had gotten off with that Fit bloke. He was just nodding and smiling at the right parts and pretending not to be distracted by the approaching Arthur Pendragon. They were nearing Merlin and Freya's side of the hall way, so Merlin waved out to the friendly faces out of  
that group. "Hey Perce," he said with a warm smile and gave Gwaine a wink; he really was a good mate, but he had decided to hang with Arthurs crowd and so didn't see much of each other. Then completely ignoring the blonde Prat and continued down the hall.

"Traitors! The whole lot of you." Arthur grumbled under his breath. "Consorting with the enemy right under my nose." Gwaine scoffed, "Just because you two are petty little twats to each other doesn't mean Perce and I can't be nice to the kid. After all, he's cute." Arthur made a face of disgust. "I'd rather fuck your grandmother, Gwaine."

He ignored his friends the rest of the way to Current Issues, just wanting the day to be over already. He wanted to go home and take a fucking nap. This whole drama with Merlin was just too much for a first day. He smiled at Mr. Roland as he took his seat near the front, he genuinely liked this class. It was interesting, to be able to discuss politics and things like that with his peers. Granted, he struggled with the concept of his opinions being wrong, but that was Arthur. He just hoped Merlin didn't show up, or this entire class would just be a daily row.

In his third period class, he had Drama. Now he knew he was doing the whole 'Gay men love theatre' thing, but he really couldn't care less what people thought. He actually /did/ love drama and he deserved to have an easy class this year. In drama they did little skits and fluffed about with some theatre games and before Merlin knew it, he was sitting out at the back cafeteria eating fries and checking out cute guys with his friends.

Arthur eagerly devoured his burger at lunch, as he had neglected breakfast, as usual. He kept to himself, though Gwaine and Lance were prodding him and trying to make him a part of the conversation. He just didn't have an interest in it. While he was in the midst of gulping down an energy drink, Percy mumbled in his ear: "Are you still upset about Merlin?" Arthur just shrugged. "It's whatever; that and a combination of...everything else." Percy nodded. That was a good thing about Percival; he never pressed anyone for more information than they were willing to give. He appreciated it.

He had psychology straight after lunch and then his last class of the day was Art. Yeah...he really was the whole, I play guitar and piano, take art classes and drama lessons and write poetry in my spear time, sort of gay; well that wasn't exactly true, he also hung out with his friends, went out to parties and for walks in the park, he listened to music pretty much /always/ and had a job. So he wasn't completely in the whole, 'Live life to the fullest and be free' sort of guy, but he was mostly happy. He was excited about art class this year as all of the Year 13's who were seriously taking art were put into a special class that allowed them to have a studio per pair. So Merlin was rather ecstatic that he would only have to share his space with one other person instead of four or five like in previous years. He walked into his assigned both and dropped his bag on the floor, after grabbing out his sketch pad and some charcoal and set to work; plugging in his headphones and blocking out the rest of the world.

After lunch was French 5, which was as much of a bore as Arthur assumed it would be. But art was next and thank god for that. His art teacher, Ms. Johnson, simply adored him. She'd purchased a few of Arthur's paintings for her own home, which made Arthur beam with pride whenever he saw her. She really wanted him to go on to be arts major in university, though he doubted that would ever happen. He walked into the room, and collected a few acrylics and a canvas. He wanted to do something sporadic today. No planning, no drafts, just...do it. Thankfully, as an advanced student he was allowed to work with his creative impulses in that way. He walked into his booth and promptly wanted to bang his head on the wall. Instead, he took a deep breath, and decided to be civil. He put his canvas on it's stand before dropping his bag on the floor. He prepared his palette in silence, not willing to say anything unless Merlin did.

Merlin didn't even notice when another body occupied his booth. He just sat sketching for about 20 minutes straight before he deemed it finished and thought it might be interesting to do some painting. That's the subject matter he had used mostly last year and so over the summer holidays, he had gotten heavily into sketching; especially with charcoal, he really liked the texture it gave his pieces. So, still with his head phones intact, he stood up and brushed a bit of hair out of his face, no doubt leaving a smudge or two, and left the booth in search of a canvas and some water colours; he had a scene in his head that he desperately needed to get out of his mind.

Arthur reached for his own headphones and began painting. He liked the rough texture of modern painters, the way it looked so effortlessly thrown together to make something lovely. The scene somehow turns into a markedly nude woman in a forest, the vivid greens standing out against the pure snow white of her skin. He liked his half-finished product. He made her hair black, lips murderous red and eyes a shocking shade of electric blue. Arthur loved her, a bit. But he fell in love with all of the people in his paintings. He made up little back stories for them while he painted. He had forgotten about Merlin almost completely.

When Merlin walked back into the booth and saw the annoyingly familiar blonde hair, he just sighed. He knew something like this would happen. One morning class with Arthur, he could handle, but his having to share his /favourite/ class with the arrogant prat and a booth was just going too far. "Though how could I forget?" He said aloud to himself, "The world is conspiring against me today." And he looked up to the god he didn't think exhausted and shook his fist dramatically.

"Well, I guess we're gonna have to work together this year, I suppose." He said to Arthur. But after a minute of waiting for a reply, he started to get annoyed, and was indeed about to give the boy another earful when he noticed that his ear where /actually/ full, with head phones. Merlin's mouth made a little 'oh' in understanding and he walked over to see what he was working on. "Oh, that's lovely." He said close to Arthur's ear without any sarcasm at all. He really was talented.

Arthur nearly pissed his pants as he was drawn out of his own little universe by Merlin's voice. He yanked one headphone out of his ear. "Jesus, man, you scared me. What do you want?" He asked breathlessly. He couldn't imagine Merlin having anything nice to say about his work, Merlin never had anything nice to say about him at all. But this would hurt more than any other sort of insult. Art was where Arthur let himself be vulnerable, and Merlin had full and convenient opportunity to hurt him deeply; though he'd rather die than admit that out loud.

Merlin straightened up and folded his arms, his brows furrowed together. "Nothing; I just wanted to tell you that I like your painting. It's really good." Though the funny thing is, he didn't leave Arthurs side; he didn't even say how much if a dick he was. He just stood there and waited for the man to take the compliment.

Arthur was stunned, truly. He opened and shut his mouth several times before actually speaking. "You...you like it?" He said, before he could realize how shocked he sounded. Well, he was shocked, but he wasn't going to let Merlin know that. He cleared his throat. "Uh, thanks." There. Not too friendly, but not being a dick, either. That's a good start.

When Arthur asked if he liked it, he nodded his head vigorously and smiled. It didn't matter who the person was, I they wanted to discuss art, then Merlin was happy to oblige. "Are you kidding me? The tones you've used in this shading over here are brilliant!" He said happily and moved closer to Arthur so that their heads were at the same level. "...An what you've done with the contrast, I mean look at this woman, its lovely to see the darkness of her surroundings and yet for her to remain so pure; though you could maybe add just a little bit of colour to her 'cause she sorta looks like a ghost, unless that's the angle your coming from, then I definitely see where you're going with the whole 'Living nature and death' thing. And I know it's not finished yet, but I can already tell its going to be beautiful." He said the last part a bit out of breath. That always happened to him when he got started talking about art; he loved it and he just got excited.

Arthur grinned at him. "Thanks, Merlin. That really...that means a lot. I'm hoping, if it's good enough, Ms. Johnson will buy it off of me." He liked Merlin like this. Nice Merlin. Art Merlin. What was the big fucking deal everywhere else? Maybe Arthur should just carry around paintings constantly so Merlin would stop being such a snooty little brat towards him. Merlin's eyes even twinkled a bit with some sort of mirth he hadn't seen before. It was kind of beautiful. No, hold on, definitely no. What the hell was he talking about? This was Emrys for god's sakes! He couldn't just be thinking about his beautiful eyes! No, fuck that. No more.

Merlin beamed when Arthur grinned back at him. Huh, so his face/doesn't/ crack when he smiles...good to know, he thought. "Ms. Johnson, buys them off you?" He questioned, "You could probably get them into one of the galleries in town, if you wanted." Then he paused, eyes a bit distracted, "Though it's never really about the money is it. Just the happiness that one picture can bring to someone can make a difference." He smiled finally and walked back over to his side of the room and sat down, again putting his headphones back in his ear and started on his painting of a secluded lake, surrounded by shrubbery and mountains.

Arthur smiled gently to himself as he continued to paint. Merlin was right, a bit of peach to the woman's skin made it look a lot more...natural. And turns out Merlin could be pretty charming when he wasn't butting into everyone's business and acting like he knew everything. Who would have thunk? Arthur painted steadily until the bell rang. He pulled out his headphones, and turned to Merlin. "Do you want a ride home?"

Merlin's painting was turning into a masterpiece - well, that's what he thought anyways. He hadn't intended on creating anything specific, just the scene he had in his mind; he remembered it vaguely as something from a dream he'd had a few nights ago. The painting had a certain quality to it that made Merlin's body relax and his mind calm when he looked at it. He was lost in his own little world of colours and textures and didn't even hear the bell ring; not that it mattered anyways, Merlin wasn't going to leave until his art work was finished. He just couldn't let this beauty slip away from him.

Arthur sighed, knowing Merlin was off in his own little world. He knew the feeling; he was often the same way when it came to his own art. Merlin would no doubt stay until he had perfected the painting, which was turning out rather beautifully. It was soft, and familiar. Merlin must've known the place well. Arthur left his canvas out to dry, and pulled his bag onto his back. "I'll see you tomorrow, Merlin." Arthur said softly from the doorframe of the room, despite knowing that Merlin would have no clue what he was saying at the moment. "You're not half bad once you get your panties out of a wad." Arthur smiled softly.

It was a while six o'clock when someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned to see someone with a broom in hand and an annoyed expression. Pulling out one of his headphones he asked, "Yes?" The obvious cleaner cocked an eyebrow, "You know students aren't allowed to be here past six, don't you?" Merlin's eyes widened and he fumbled for his phone, seeing that it was indeed after six and that he had two messages; one from his mum saying that she was covering for another nurse, so wouldn't be home tonight and one from Freya, again demanding to know who that cute boy was. He sighed and packed up his belongings, "Sorry." He said and walked out of the art block. The sky was a dark grey, mostly from the setting sun, but also from the rain clouds still emptying their stomachs over the city. He brought his hands up for the whole dramatic 'Why?' gesture and started walking, again, in the rain. He really hated the first day of school.

Arthur took a nap almost immediately when he got home. He stripped down to his boxer-briefs and climbed into bed, pressing his face into the pillows and groaning. He was exhausted already. It was likely that his father wouldn't be home that night, or the night after. So, realistically, he could take a nap, wake up at about 9, call Gwaine and go out to a bar. And get laid, hopefully. It was certainly an option, and he could do with a shag. Maybe he would, he thought. When he awoke, he called Gwaine and Percy. The two of them often snuck out at night to accompany Arthur to various clubs. It was a good time for all three of them to release stress. Arthur got dressed in jeans and a form-fitting t-shirt before gathering his car keys and strolling out to the driveway.

Despite Merlin being wet and cold for the second time that day, he couldn't bring himself to be all that bothered. He felt elated that he had finished his painting, and even more so that it was a /good/ painting; he couldn't wait to show his mum. Even if she refused to drop him off to school or let him have the day off, he really did love her, with all his heart. She was just such an amazing woman. Hunith had practically raised Merlin on her own, with no money and a little support from his uncle, so any woman who could do that and still have a loving, caring soul was beautiful. Merlin looked up at the now completely darkened sky with water rain drops falling to the ground. It's sort of peaceful, Merlin thought to himself, just walking alone at night, with the feeling of light touches of water, the sound of music in his ears and the silence from the outside world. He was beginning to think that he might make this a daily thing, if he could.

Arthur drummed on his steering wheel anticipation as they drove to Gwaine's preferred club. Arthur had already decided, he wanted a man tonight; someone with bright blue eyes and raven hair. But he tried not to think too much about that strange coincidence. Gwaine sang loudly along with the radio in the way he always did, Percy chuckling in the back seat. Arthur rolled down the windows and let the cold night air blow through his hair. This was good; this was exactly what he needed to blow off steam. It wasn't long before they arrived at the club, using Arthur's name (his father's, more accurately) rather than IDs. Gwaine went straight for the bar. It wouldn't be long before Arthur would catch him doing body shots off of some poor girl's stomach. He scanned the room, looking for someone to fit his parameters.

Merlin finally arrived home around eight. He will admit that it didn't usually take him that long to walk to school, but the evening had been so nice - despite the weather, that he a taken his time observing his surroundings and trying to see if something would stimulate another idea for a piece of art work. Merlin fumbled with his keys in the dark and quickly went inside. It wasn't that the town was famous for sort of social disorganization, but there were a few dodgy people around in every part of the world and Merlin didn't live in a particularly /nice/ part of town. He dropped his bag off in his room and went down into the kitchen to see what he could scrounge up for dinner. After hunting for several minutes, opening and closing the fridge and pantry about ten times in the hopes there might be something there and checking the freezer for something that remotely resemble food, he gave up and made himself a marmite sandwich.

Merlin was sitting at his desk, munching on his dinner and thinking about his first day, when an image came to mind that he just couldn't ignore. He grabbed a piece of clean parchment and started to scribble furiously, the busy of a man coming to shape across the page. He sketch until he was finished and a beautiful young man with light hair, brilliant eyes and a sharp jaw line came into view. Then Merlin frowned and tossed the offending piece of paper away. "Pendragon." He grumbled aloud.

Before long, Arthur found a boy about his age. He had Merlin's pale skin and blue eyes and wild hair. He didn't even know the boy's name before he was pressing him up against a wall and sticking his tongue down his throat. The boy had experience, making Arthur think maybe he wasn't his age at all. The boy, man, rather, made small whining noises into Arthur's kisses. "Do you want to go back to mine?" Arthur offered, smirking at the man maliciously. He nodded. The drive home was silent, as they always were. Arthur didn't take people home for the fucking bonding experience. It didn't take him long to get home and topple the man into his large bed. He would've liked to say he wasn't imagining another fey-like boy in this one's place, but it was simply a lie. He'd whispered Merlin's name when he came. And where the fuck did this come from? He hated Merlin, the snot nosed little shit! This was obviously just some...phase.

"What the fucking fuck!" Is the response that Merlin got from over the phone. After he'd had a mini break down and destroyed any evidence that proved that his subconscious had been indeed thinking about Arthur, he rang up his best friend and had said in a very serious tone, "We need to talk." Freya had sighed and said as warmly as she could, "Okay, not that I don't love you and all, but I'm sorta busy right now-" Merlin cut her off with words he thought he would never say, "I think I like Arthur Pendragon."

Which was how they came to this lovely display of the English language, "What do you mean 'like' Arthur Pendragon? As in 'like like' or just 'I secretly want to shag his brains out' like?" Merlin coughed and murmured as lowly as he could, "Like like." This was met by a horrified gasp. "Well it's not like I want it to happen!" He defended himself, "It just happened! Like this morning while I was walking to school, he was being his complete usual prattish self and then we had this argument in English lit and then he said something...and I dunno, I just, didn't hate him as much as I thought I did. /Then/ in art," he pressed on, "He painted the most beautiful paintings I have ever seen and I just couldn't stop myself from gushing." Holy fuck! He thought, where the hell was this coming from. "I just- fuck, I don't even know." Freya sighed and told him not to fret, that they would discuss it in more detail tomorrow, so for him to get some sleep. He nodded solemnly, even though he knew she couldn't and clicked off hoping that when he did finally go to sleep, that his mind would not be plagued by that stupid annoyingly handsome prat.

"Who's Merlin?" the boy (Adam, 21) asked. Arthur took another drag off of Adam's cigarette before he answered. "This little prick I go to school with." Arthur explained. Adam raised his eyebrows. "He's a little prick, but you said his name when you came. That doesn't sound quite right."

Arthur sighed. "I might be interested in him. I don't know why this happened now; we've always hated each other. He still hates me, I think. But all of a sudden, he's this fantastic artist and compliments me on my paintings and says things that are actually...not annoying. And he's kind of...well, honestly, really cute."

"I don't see the issue, kid. If you like him, which you obviously do, then go for it. The worst he could say is no. And he's never going to say yes if you don't at least try to flirt with him or something. You'll regret it forever if you don't at least try."

Arthur thought about that long after Adam went home, leaving Arthur with a cigarette butt and a kiss on the cheek. Was it really that easy? Just to say, I used to hate you, and you used to hate me, but you're actually pretty sweet and gorgeous, so we should go out some time. It couldn't be that easy. Could it?


	2. Chapter 2

So Merlin was wrong. It didn't matter how hard he prayed and hoped like hell that he could have a peaceful sleep, it was still disrupted by flashes of memories from the previous day. Arthur's brilliant smile as Merlin had complimented his work, the way he was so passionate about it, how they also got lost in the moment. It was just too much for Merlin to try and comprehend. And he wished - oh, god he wished, that's he could say that his lack of sleep had been from a nightmare or something equally as horrible, because obviously, anything to do with Arthur Pendragon was horrible...but It wasn't, it was a lovely dream; the dream Arthur was everything he had ever wanted in a lover, in a partner, and the harsh reality was, as he found when he woke, that it didn't exist, because Arthur hated him. He came to accept this when he was walking out of the door, a bit late again, but not really worrying because he had other things on his mind.

Arthur took a few aspirin and another cup of coffee when he left that morning. He was hungover, to be entirely honest, and he didn't want to go to school and face Merlin now that he'd realized he was kind of "in like" with him. How was he meant to act? When Arthur liked someone, he naturally flirted heavily with them. Which meant Merlin would figure him out soon enough, and that was a scary though. Arthur wasn't out at school except to his closest friends. If Merlin outed him, it would ruin his life. His father would surely cut him off, which meant he had no way of going to Uni or taking his father's spot at the firm. Merlin could ruin everything if he didn't like Arthur back. And that was a stressful thought.

Damn the weather, Merlin thought as he was walking to school, it's like Mother Nature is _trying_ to piss me off. But really, he should have learnt his lesson from the day before; the weather is unpredictable, so always carry a brolly. Though of course, Merlin was never one to plan ahead, as shown through his art, so of /course/ it was going to rain, just in spite of him.

His thoughts were constantly of the blonde prat who had plagued his dreams all of last night. This was getting out of hand, Arthur had been the bane of his existence since day one, so why was it suddenly _now_, when he had his life planned and sorted out, that he had to go and become amazing at art and ridiculously good looking? He groaned when a simple answer didn't come straight to mind.

"Oh, well." He said aloud to the earth, "At least you're matching my mood." He sighed and decided that he should probably stop talking aloud the things that would /never/ talk back.

Arthur hummed quietly alone to the radio as he drove, stopping every few minutes to sigh. This year was going to be a lot harder than he thought, having to start and end his day with Merlin; who was now practically irresistible. Had his lips always been so pink and plump? And his hair always so endearingly untidy? His smile so infectious and simply lovely? Arthur wanted to bang his head on a desk.

And of course, there was Merlin, in the rain, again. He seemed to be looking up and...Talking to the sky? Arthur sighed, slowing down as he pulled up next to him. He rolled down his window, and looked at Merlin expectantly. "If I can interrupt your conversation for just a moment...Do you need a ride?" He offered, gesturing at his empty passenger's seat.

"Holy Shit!" Yelped Merlin and he span around to see the owner of the voice. Oh, of course it had to be him again, didn't it? "I wasn't- I was just-" he sighed knowing that he could not talk his way out of this one. Arthur would think he was even more of a freak and spread it around the school that 'Merlin, the gay twat, talks to himself' and would ruin his year before it had just begun.

But something was off... Arthur was not calling him a freak; in fact, he was offering him a ride. Merlin looked around to see if there was anybody else around, just In case this was all just some elaborate joke, and nodded. "Ugh, yes please. I sorta..." He trailed off, knowing that Arthur wouldn't really care for an explanation and climbed into the warm car, "Sorry in advance for wetting you car, mate."

Arthur smirked. "It's fine; I'd rather my car get wet than you catch pneumonia or something." He teased, smiling at Merlin fondly. He was cute, it a quirky sort of way. Arthur liked it. "So, what were you and the sky discussing before I so rudely interrupted you?" He asked, drumming his fingers to the music on the steering wheel and humming softly. See, this was already much better than his and Merlin's usual interactions. No one had been insulted or threatened yet, so they had made much progress. The butterflies in Arthur's stomach were practically spasm-ing at the nearness of Merlin. God, Arthur hoped he remembered to put on cologne that morning.

Merlin gave Arthur a side glance and blushed. "Oh, well it's been rather shirt weather lately and I was just asking if it was alright; it seems rather depressed." He hoped that Arthur would take this as a joke and not push for the real reason. The car might get a little cramped if he decided to say, 'Actually I was comparing the weather to my mood as I can't stop thinking about this blonde prat who coincidently looks and sounds like you.' That just makes the ride a bit uncomfortable.

Arthur laughed quietly. Of course, Merlin would do something like that. "You're so weird." Arthur said and chuckled, "In a nice way." He quickly added, feeling heat rising to his cheeks. He hadn't meant to insult Merlin. He truly did mean it in a good way. It wasn't as if he could express his affection for the other boy in the way he wanted to, or Merlin would fling himself out of the car. He felt a low tug in his stomach that made him want to kiss Merlin gently and hold his hand and tell Merlin that he was a complete dork in an absolutely adorable way. God, this was torture.

This was getting weird, Merlin countered in his mind. Yes, he knew he was weird, he embraced that fact... And it was something Arthur had always teased him about; so why the sudden change of heart? So he just smiled and said, "I know." It wouldn't do well to pick a fight whilst in the guy's car, or he would be tossed out on his arse into a high speed intersection.

He noticed Arthur humming to the music and smiled; well that was something else they had in common. Merlin couldn't help himself when it came to music. He would hum, sing aloud, tap rhythms into any set face he could find or just loose himself in it. He didn't even realize that he was staring at the other man than was socially acceptable.

Arthur looked slightly to the passenger's side and winced. Merlin was staring at him with an expression he'd never seen on him before. Arthur chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry, I'm used to driving alone. I'll stop." He explained, stilling his fingers from drumming on the steering wheel. He really needed to get his shit together if he wanted a chance with Merlin. Maybe he could ask him if he wanted to hang out sometime. ...Yeah, that was a good idea.

"Hey, uh, you're in Pre-Calc, right?" Arthur asked, trying to keep his voice casual.

His blue eyes were just amazing, so deep and yet bright all at the same time. Now I really wish I hadn't screwed up that drawing, he thought. He saw Arthur's perfect lips moving and tried to snap out of his 'like' induced haze, so that he could catch the rest of the sentence and not seem like the idiot Arthur already thought he was. 'You're in Pre-Calc, right?' Merlin actually had to think about this... Was he in that class? He didn't have it yesterday...so obviously not. "Ah, no I'm not, actually. I'm taking classes I really enjoy this year." He smiled, "You don't need Level three Calculi to get into Art school."

Arthur sighed in defeat. "Damn. Our first unit in Mathematical Decision making has a shit ton of calculus, and I'm awful at it. I was going to ask if you wanted to get a coffee or something and help me out." Arthur looked at Merlin, locking his gaze on Merlin's boyish blue eyes. "You were always..." He said, his voice becoming soft as he stared at Merlin's soft, plush lips. "Good at maths." Arthur's tongue darted out to lick over his own bottom lip.

Merlin's eyes dilated, Arthur was not playing fair with that voice, and his mouth made an 'oh' shape. Here's your chance! He was yelling at himself, take it! "Umm," he swallowed, "I don't think I would be of much use... I don't know the curriculum level; I might get it wrong." The confident outgoing Merlin inside his head had metaphorically taken a gun to its own head and shot itself. You idiot! "Sorry." He sighed and looked away. It was better if he tried hard /not/ to get too involved with Arthur; I mean they had hated each other for years now, why change that? And it also stops me from falling for him, he reminded himself sadly.

Oh, okay. Maybe Merlin just barely liked him as another human being and simply wasn't interested. That would be his luck. "Oh." he said softly. "That's too bad, maybe another time, then?" He said hopefully, very aware that his voice was going breathless and gravelly with arousal from being so close to Merlin, in a private place. They were alone. Arthur could just lean in and kiss Merlin if he really wanted to. But Merlin didn't seem interested, so he wouldn't put himself out there like that. He wouldn't be that vulnerable if Merlin didn't feel the same way.

The words, "Yes, definitely!" We're out of his mouth before he could stop them. He blushed at how eager he sounded. Way to play it cool, Merlin, the little voice mocked him. He hadn't even meant to say yes, that was the complete opposite to his, 'Don't get involved or friendly with him because the moment you are alone in a place that isn't a moving car you will rip his fucking clothes of and have your wicked way with him' plan. "I mean... Umm..." He finished awkwardly. He didn't even know what he could say to gain back any of his credibility with Arthur.

Arthur laughed happily. Maybe Merlin was interested after all. God, that'd be brilliant if he were. "Great." He said, still chuckling as he drove. He wanted to bring the other thing up, but wasn't sure how to phrase it gingerly and non-confrontational. He cleared his throat. "So you're...you're, um, gay, yeah?" He asked awkwardly, and flinched immediately. "Sorry, that sounded better in my head." Arthur admitted apologetically.

Merlin gave a laugh, "Wow, it's like you don't even go to our school. I think me being gay is like the worst kept secret ever." He smiled and hoped that he didn't take offense to him laughing, /prayed/ that he would just laugh too. Although if he was offended, Merlin wouldn't be surprised; when he got nervous, his brain tended to come in second and his mouth first. It had gotten him into a lot of trouble before...most of the time with teachers, or Arthur. "And its fine by the way," he said almost soothingly, "I'm not ashamed or anything."

Arthur chuckled. Merlin made a good point, pretty much everyone knew that he was gay, and for the most part, accepted it. "I just figured I'd ask you instead of just...believing whatever I heard, I guess." Arthur smiled. "But, uh...yeah, that's...that's good. I mean, uh, good for you, ya know?"

Christ, when had he gotten so awkward? He'd never been like this with anyone before, flirting was supposed to come naturally to him, damn it! But it seemed like fate had sent Merlin to completely fuck with everything he'd known about himself. First, he'd nearly let it slip about his extreme daddy issues, and now, he was about to almost admit that he was bisexual!

"So..." Merlin said after a long, slightly awkward silence, "You're brilliant at art... Are you going to continue? Like, study art at Uni, or...?" Maybe this wasn't such a good line of inquiry. Everybody knew that Uther Pendragon was the owner of some of the largest firms in the whole of England, and someone would have to take over eventually. He just hoped it was Arthur's choice and that he wasn't sacrificing his own happiness for the sake of his father. He hated parents hi did that to their children. It was almost cruel.

Arthur sighed. "No. I can't. My father says it'd my duty to take over the firm when he decides to retire, and that art school would be a waste of my time because I'm not talented enough to make any money off of it. And he says he doesn't want me to turn into a crazy gay hippie nudist communist, either. So I'm going to study law and get married to a proper young lady in a few years and have two kids and a white picket fence and a puppy and a big dumb house in Kensington, a nice, respectable life." Arthur said, going out of breath as he angrily went off on a tangent without realizing he was doing so. "Fuck, sorry, I just...get carried away." He said, blushing.

Merlin frowned. "Your father is a tosser." He said pointedly and raised his hand in defence when Arthur looked at him, "Now don't take offense!" He said and started on his rant, "But I hate it, absolutely _despise_ it when people, especially parents, give kids this idea that they have to be perfect and live to family expectations. And I know that they think they're doing their best by us and all that shit, but fuck! Shouldn't they at least as what we want? I mean-" he cast a hand in Arthur's direction, "It's quite obvious that you don't even want to take over you daddy's precious little company. I can see it; you want to do art, but he's holding you back." He looked him dead in the eye and said with so much passion, "you are _so_ talented and you could make a fortune off your work, yet you're sitting here telling me you want a wife and kids, with a nice house and a fence." Then he moved his face closer and whispered, "When you don't even want that at all."

Arthur took a deep breath, processing what Merlin had just said to him. He found himself agreeing with all of it, unsurprisingly. He'd said those very same things to himself almost every night while he lies awake in bed, dreading the future that had been predetermined for him. He took the plunge before he could regret it. "You're right. I want to be an artist, I want to have my own shitty flat, and be able to do what I want to do whenever I feel like doing it. And I definitely want to be with a man, if I'm going to be with any one person for the rest of my life." Arthur admitted softly, only now noticing how close their faces were. God, this was scary.

Merlin's breathing was still heavy from his mini speech about freedom and he noticed that his and Arthur's face was so close... All he had to do was lean that little bit extra forward and their lips would touch. "So, you like guys then?" He asked. That was a revelation to him, and he suspected it wasn't even meant to be known to anyone. Arthur had just seemed to blurt it out; which he seemed to be doing a lot as of late. He looked down at Arthur's lips and licked his own. So close... But he pulled back and rested back into the comfortably large chair.

Arthur sighed in disappointment as Merlin sat back in his chair. "Yeah, I do...it's a secret, obviously, but I like them a lot more than I like women. The only people that know I'm bisexual are Lance, Gwaine, and Percy. And, well, every boy I've ever slept with." Arthur admitted, relaxing a bit in his seat as well. Surely Merlin wouldn't tell anyone. He wanted Arthur to be happy, obviously. And the way Merlin licked his lips...God, there had to be something there!

Merlin was looking out of the window and turned to give Arthur a reassuring smile. "Well, don't worry or anything... I'm not gonna out you. That's a horrible thing to do to someone." He said this as kindly as he could, because Arthur had in fact been the one to inadvertently 'out' Merlin. It had been in their second year of high school and Merlin'd had the hots for one of the new boys in their maths class. He had said that Merlin was blushing and kept checking out the other boy when he wasn't looking - out loud to the whole class... And since then he'd been gay. Though, he had always known he was different, so it didn't change that much for him.

His mind came back into the car and when he saw the lake coming up he picked up his bag off the floor. "Actually, do you mind just stopping here?" He asked quietly, "I don't think I'm going to go to school today."

Arthur frowned. He remembered now, what he said about Merlin in their second year. That was his fault, and he did it specifically to embarrass Merlin in front of all of their classmates. He felt awful about it now, of course.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you. I was...stupid, back then. I still am now, but...I'm sorry." Arthur said softly.

He quirked his eyebrow at Merlin's request, "Okay, if you really think that's best. Is there something wrong?" Arthur asked as he pulled over to the side of the road.

Merlin smiled brilliantly. "Well I think /that/ is a first and definitely something that needs to go into the history books," he cleared his voice in a very official way. "On this date: Arthur J Pendragon, said that he was sorry to one, Merlin A Emrys." He smile grew and he started giggling, "Its fine by the way. You saved me from having to do it myself."

When Arthur pulled the car over and turned it off, it was airily silent. The only noise was the occasional car zooming past, leaving water marks in its wake. "Yeah, I'm sure. I didn't sleep very well last night and there's this cabin I go to in these woods; it overlooks the lake. My uncle gave it to me, so whenever I need a quite place to think or draw, I come here."

Arthur scoffed. "Oh hush, I usually don't have things to apologize for." Arthur protested, despite knowing that he had plenty to apologize to Merlin for. He would work his way around to that at some point, right? Hopefully he and Merlin would be friends at the very least.

Arthur sighed. "That sounds amazing. I wish I had a place like that. I can't even relax at home, it reminds me too much of my father." He whispered sadly, staring pointedly at the steering wheel.

Merlin's eyes flicked around the car and out to the green bush before them. "You could always, you know, come with...me." He said quietly. Again, knowing this was a bad idea, he still couldn't stop himself. This Arthur, sitting in the car with him right now, was like the Arthur he had fallen for in his dreams last night.

"I don't mind... And it would be nice to have some company there for once." He laughed, trying to make the suggestion not sound too intimate, "And maybe it would help with the whole, 'Talking to inanimate objects' thing"

Oh. He could skip school and go spend the entire day in a very empty house with Merlin? Christ that was a wet dream waiting to happen. How could he deny himself that privilege? It wasn't as if his father would find out he was skipping school anyway.

"Well when you put it that way, I think I owe it to society to help you kick the habit." Arthur teased, reaching to ruffle Merlin's hair in a way he'd never done before. It was soft, and clean, and Arthur wanted to run his fingers through it for hours. This just wasn't going to get any easier.

Merlin's leaned into Arthur's touch before he even knew what he was doing and sighed happily. When he opened his eyes, the ones he never knew he even closed, he smiled and set his bag down again. "I think you deserve medal for just /wanting/ to help. It's going to be hard, but I'm sure you can take it." He said with a wink and then pointed to a little road on Merlin's side of the car. "Just turn left up here. There's a place where you can park your car and no one will see it. Then we sort of have to get out an walk for a bit." He said with an apologetic smile.

How receptive and calm Merlin looked under Arthur's touch made Arthur's heart clench and twist. Ouch. God, could he just skip the whole painful uncertainty part and get to the making out and cuddling with his cute new boyfriend part? He kept his face happy, despite himself. "That's fun; a walk will be good for me. I don't get much proper exercise until footie season starts up." Arthur said, turning the car back on and pulling back into his lane. He was excited to be spending his day this way.

"Yeah, I can tell." Merlin teased and yelped when he felt a hand whack at his arm. "Oi!" He said loudly, "Fat people like you, Arthur, can just go around slapping skinny twigs like me. We're very delicate." He smirked slapped Arthur back, "And also, I'll kick your arse, so just be warned." This was going to be a good day he decided. Only just this time yesterday, Merlin was muttering about how much he hated the man next to him, and now? Well now he was inviting him to a secluded cabin, somewhere in the middle of the woods; alone. Wow. He _sucked_ at sticking to plans.

They pulled up at a little clearing and got out. Arthur locked up his car and they started on their walk to the cabin.

Arthur was still grumbling about Merlin calling him fat as they began their walk. "I'm not fat, I'll have you know. I am in my prime. I have abs, for Christ's sakes!" He protested pointedly, not sure whether he was convincing himself or Merlin. "It's not my fault you have no muscle definition and therefore make me look like some sort of professional cheeseburger eater." He said, pinching Merlin's side playfully.

Merlin laughed at the comment and blushed at that touch; though he kept that hidden. "Look, it was only a joke; I know you're not /actually/ fat." He said and slung an arm around Arthur's shoulders in what he hoped would be taken as a companionably way, instead of the flirtatious way he had intended. He stuck a hand to Arthur's stomach and patted, then his eyes widened, "Holy shit! Are you like some fucking Rock-man or something?" He jumped in front of Arthur and hiked up his shirt, "Jesus. Do you actually eat anything a bit not good? Or is it a specific diet you do?" Those were some seriously impressive abs. He whistled, not waiting for his response and kept walking through the long wet grass.

Arthur laughed, the feeling of Merlin's arm around his shoulders making him feel simply ecstatic; and Merlin hiking up his shirt, Christ. He was about to get hard right there. He chuckled. "Yeah, that eating thing...I'm on a strict diet from my coach, says I'd get fat in a minute if I don't listen to him. I survive mainly off of coffee and rice. And a chocolate bar once a month." Arthur confessed, blushing slightly. He knew his diet was ridiculous, but he loved footie, and wanted to be in the best shape possible. He was just glad Merlin hadn't rucked up his shirt high enough to see his nipple piercings; that would have just been embarrassing. That also was a well-kept secret.

The dark hair boy smiled and nodded. "Well if it's something you love doing, then you do what you have to, I guess." Then he snorted, "Though I don't believe your coach. You could be a professional cheeseburger eater and still look hot, so it shouldn't matter." His comment was met by silence which made him realize his slip up. "Umm..." He said awkwardly, knowing full well that Arthur had heard him. Well, shit. Now he's gonna know that you fancy the fuck out of him... Then he's gonna think you tricked him out here to seduce him! Back track! Back track! "What I meant to say was-"

Arthur grinned. "You think so?" He asked, winking at Merlin. "You didn't exactly get hit with the ugly stick yourself, babe." Arthur teased, ruffling Merlin's hair again. God, this was getting flirty, wasn't it? Maybe he'd be snogging Merlin's little brains out in the cabin by the end of the day. And wouldn't that just be fantastic, to get this awkward I-like-you-do-you-like-me phase out of the way.

This time Merlin's blush was very noticeable; Arthur was bound to notice it. "Ugh, thanks?" He may be able to get almost every guy he wanted, be cool and calm; but there was just something about Arthur that was making him blush like a school girl and make him feel giddy just spending time with him. Merlin had decided during some point on their walk that it didn't matter what their past record with each other looked like; they would be friends from now on...And hopefully more.

Arthur did notice the pretty blush rising on Merlin's cheeks, and it made him grin. He looked so good that way, Christ. Before long, you would have to pry his hands off of Merlin. He, at the very least, swore to himself that he'd never be rude to Merlin again, and that they'd be friends. Hopefully close ones. And now they had art together, Merlin would learn a lot about Arthur's inner workings very quickly. He wanted desperately to hold Merlin's hand in that moment, but resisted the temptation.

Merlin could tell that they were nearing the cabin as he could see it through some bushes. "Aha!" He cried and ran towards it happily, "Here we are!" He fished out his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. When he pushed open, the door gave a little squeak and he hushed it.

The Merlin's cabin was about the size of a small house. It had a kitchen and lounge in one big long strip across the house that over looked some if the lake, it had one bedroom down stairs and one small bedroom in what used to be the attic, before his uncle had remade it as Merlin's bedroom when he'd come to stay. It felt a bit weird sleeping in his uncle's old room, so he continued to stay in his room. And anyways, it was still a decent sized room; it was the roof of the entire house. He crossed the room and opened up the curtains to let the dull light in and flicked heater on. Luckily for them both, Merlin had been here only a few days before as he had been practically living here during the summer holidays, so the rooms didn't smell all old and musty from no use. "Would you like a cuppa?" He asked and went to put on the kettle. "Though I used all the milk up the other day, so it will either have to be herbal tea or coffee I'm afraid."

"This is really nice, Merlin..." Arthur mumbled, looking around the cabin in amazement. Merlin was so lucky to have a place to escape to like this. Arthur's house was gorgeous, and expensive, but it didn't really feel like home to him. It looked more like a magazine than where people actually lived. Granted, it was just him most of the time.

Arthur smiled. "Coffee is good." He said. He was a bit of an addict; he drank the stuff near constantly. It had the caffeine he somehow always needed, and the taste was good once you got used to it. He hoped Merlin wouldn't mind the habit.

Coffee. He should have known. For the past three years Arthur had taken his coffee with him _everywhere_. He would have it in the mornings when he arrived to school; Merlin would see him with it between classes, sometimes at lunch he would make special trips out to get some. Merlin had always thought it was because he had wanted to appear as some wannabe hot shot; drinking coffee all day, because that's what people do. But now he could see it was just because he liked it, no other reason; even if he did seem a bit addicted. "Are you sure?" He asked, "Because I have this new tea I'm trying out. It's called Strawberry and Mango." He picked up the unopened box and sniffed it, then moaned, "Please Arthur, It's so good!" And offered it to him.

Now Merlin was just teasing him. Come on, no one moaned like that about tea, unless this was just one of those Merlin things. "Alright, if you love it so much, I am willing to commit sacrilege to try it. Go back on everything I've ever known just for you. Feel special." Arthur teased, winking at him. He took the box from Merlin and inhaled. He had to admit, it smelled pretty great. "I am willing to trust your taste, Merlin. Do not let me down."

Merlin did a mock bow, "Of course, your majesty," And walked back into the kitchen to make two cups of the experimental tea. "I haven't actually tried it yet. But it smells so good." He found a tray, put the cups and hot water on it, along with a bowl of sugar and grabbed some ice cubes. "To cool it down so I can drink it faster without burning myself," he explained to Arthur when he gave him a questionable look. He poured Arthur and then himself a cup of tea then held his up to his nose. "Oh, that smells so good." He moaned again. He took a small sip, and winced. "It's quite hot and I think I'm gonna out some sugar in it." Then he took another sip of the perfected drink and swallowed. "Oooooh, my god!" He moaned and threw his head back, "Arthur you have to try it."

No, now Arthur had a most noticeable erection, that Merlin was sure to notice. What was he meant to do? He was a 17 year old boy, how could he keep flaccid when the object of his fantasies was throwing his head back and moaning like a porn star?! He squirmed a bit, trying to will his erection to go away. He took a sip of the tea, and groaned softly. "Fuck, that's good." He muttered; voice rough and breathy. "Jesus, Merlin, that's great."

Merlin nodded and smiled wildly, "I know, right! This has become my favourite herbal tea after only one sip. I think that's a record for me." He moved closer and offered his cup to Arthur, "Try my one... It'll taste different to yours." He didn't know why he was doing that. He was in a cabin, alone, in the middle of nowhere, with the boy he hated for years, but could quite possibly fall in love with in a day...And he was offering him tea. Why the fuck wasn't he snogging the shit out of him right now? Arthur said he was gay - well, Bi, but still! He had a chance.

Arthur took a sip of Merlin's tea, moaning in satisfaction. Maybe he had treated tea unjustly, neglecting it for coffee's sake. "This is brilliant, Merlin. God bless you." Arthur muttered, closing his eyes and enjoying it. He liked this a lot; just him and Merlin, no judgmental people from their school, nothing to hide. Just them and whatever they decided to do. "I mean it Merlin. I could kiss you for this."

"Okay." He said with a blush and set down his tea cup.


	3. Chapter 3

The little Merlin in his head was whooping with joy at how forthcoming he had been. Maybe this was good. If Arthur said no, then he could laugh it off as a joke and then they could talk about art and how stupid society was... And if he said yes; well let's just say that there are other things they could be doing with their mouths besides moaning at how good tea tastes.

That startled Arthur. His eyes went wide for a moment. He cleared his throat, and blushed. He set his cup down next to Merlin's. Arthur placed his hands on either side of Merlin's face and leaned in, his heart beating faster than he could ever remember it beating before. He kissed Merlin softly, just in case Merlin was teasing him and was actually repulsed by the very idea.

Merlin melted into the kiss. It wasn't like any kiss he'd had before; those were usually just drunken snogs at parties with some hot bloke he'd set his eye on for the night, but this... This was perfect. Arthur was being soft and gentle, but he was holding back. Maybe he didn't really want to kiss Merlin. But if he really hadn't wanted to, he would have pulled back by no, or not done it at all! So Merlin shuffled closer and put a hand on his hip and the other in the blonde's soft golden hair.

Arthur groaned into the kiss, pushing his lips harder against Merlin's. So Merlin did want this, thank god. Arthur licked at the seam of Merlin's lips, wanting to deepen the kiss. This was brilliant. This was the first time he'd kissed anyone he'd had actual romantic feelings for. Come to think of it...this was the first time he'd had romantic feelings for anyone in general. One of Arthur's hands slipped into Merlin's soft ebony locks, pulling gently.

Merlin opened his mouth to let Arthur in. God he wanted this, so much. Only just last night he had been dreaming about an Arthur who was kind and funny and perfect in these very woods, and now he was kissing the real life Arthur, in these woods! He might need to dream of something more extravagant tonight, though he doubted it would hold a candle to what he had right now. He moaned at the light tug in his hair and started stroking his tongue along Arthur's.

Arthur kissed Merlin like he had just realized he was starving. He kissed Merlin hard, like he couldn't get enough of Merlin's taste, and his lips on Arthur's; which was true. And maybe it was this simple. They didn't have anything to hide here, not now. Arthur had to break the kiss in order to actually breathe. "Fuck, you're so fucking hot." He mumbled breathlessly. "I had a fucking identity crisis last night because I just wanted to shag your brains out and then cuddle the shit out of you." He confessed, blushing slightly.

Merlin gave a small laugh and kissed Arthur hard again before speaking. "Oh, that's good; because I may have accidentally sketched your face without even realizing it." Now it was Merlin's turn to blush. "I- I really like you, Arthur." He said quietly and turned away from Arthur's gaze.

"I had a one-off last night with a guy who could've been your twin and accidentally said your name when I came." Arthur blurted out. "So, I...I like you a lot as well, Merlin." Arthur said, locking his gaze with Merlin's again. That was an embarrassing thing to admit, but Merlin deserved to know.

He raised an eyebrow and looked at Arthur with a sly grin. "Well, now I feel very special, Arthur. Thank you." He brought a hand around and brushed his hand over Arthur's cheek. "Was he any good?"

Arthur smirked and blushed. "He wasn't quite what I wanted. But he was pretty close." He admitted, eyes flitting to Merlin's lips again. "Your lips are nice, just so you know." Arthur mumbled, staring at them quite pointedly.

Merlin bit his lip and smiled, "Thanks, I get that a lot." And laughed when Arthur's dropped a little, "I'm only kidding. Now are you going to stop moping and kiss me? Because I would like that a lot," He leant forward and pressed his lips against Arthur's, "And I'm pretty sure we have a lot to catch up on."

Arthur smirked into the kiss. "Oh, we have years of missed time. I hope you're comfortable with not going to school for the next 3 weeks." Arthur mumbled before deepening the kiss, biting and sucking at Merlin's lips urgently. He was shameless now, openly moaning and pressing his body to Merlin's.

Merlin put both hands around Arthur's back and pulled him on top of him. They were both lying on the couch; Merlin's body directly under Arthur's, slowly grinding together. He was okay to want this so badly right? Tongues were tangling and hands were flying under clothes, hoping to grab at any skin possible. Merlin could feel Arthur's cock poking him in the hip.

Arthur shoved his hands up Merlin's shirt, desperate to feel the skin he'd never seen. God, he wanted Merlin so fucking badly, he could hardly believe it. He'd absolutely hated Merlin up until yesterday, and now they were snogging on a couch, well on their way to fucking.

What a fucking life Arthur Pendragon led.

"God, get you fucking clothes off right now!" Merlin grumbled when pulled back. He had been rubbing against Arthur for a while now, but it wasn't enough; he needed more. He pushed Arthur back slightly and started to hike up his top for the second time that morning.

Arthur stilled Merlin's hands. "Listen, before you take off my shirt, I just want to say: yes, it bloody hurts if you pull on them, so don't do it, and no, I was not drunk when I got them done." He explained before pulling off his shirt entirely. The whole nipple piercings thing was fine with the guys and girls he took home, but as far as his friends went, it was just awkward. Gwaine insisted on yanking at them every time Arthur went shirtless, and that had gotten old quickly. Arthur pushed that thought from his mind and bent to kiss Merlin's neck.

"Oh, god! I swear you are the hottest thing I'm ever going to fuck." Merlin breathing was incredibly deep. He kept arching into Arthur's attacks on his throat and was moaning freely now. "I'm not letting you go now." He ran his hands down the blondes back and grabbed his arse tightly, grinding their exertions together, hard.

Arthur growled, low in his chest. "The only thing you're ever going to fuck from here on out." He said against Merlin's ear, biting at the spot behind Merlin's ear possessively. He'd forgotten to tell Merlin, he was extremely possessive and jealous. It was a character flaw, of course, but not one that he could easily fix. He pulled Merlin's jeans down, sliding down his body to mouth at Merlin's erection through his underwear.

Merlin didn't think he could get any harder, but when Arthur but him and practically said he was his, he was pushed to the max. "A- Arthur!" He moaned when he felt the wet heat mouthing over his cock. He was panting now, his eyes scrunched shut and his hands tangled in Arthur's hair. "F-Fuck! Arthur! Me. Fuck me!"

Arthur moaned at Merlin's words, nodding eagerly. "D'you have lube, condoms?" Arthur asked, panting himself. If Merlin said no, he just might cry.

Merlin bit his lip and nodded. "Yeah, they're in my room; I have some here just in case. Shall we go up there?" Arthur agreed and hauled himself off the couch. Merlin took him by the hand, leaving his trousers in a pile on the floor and led him up the stairs to his room. There was a large bed in the centre of the room, a set of draws on either side. He had a large closet in the corner, a bookshelf full to the brim with books and papers. Merlin also had a large stereo player to hook up his iPod, and a desk for his art. "Do you like it?" Merlin asked nervously and squeezed their clasped hands. He didn't know why it mattered now, it'd never been a problem before. "You're actually the only person I've brought here before."

Arthur smiled at Merlin's room, it suited the boy perfectly. He kissed Merlin's shoulder softly. "It suits you. I like it a lot." He whispered into Merlin's skin, sliding his hands over Merlin's hips and stomach.

Merlin beamed at this; Arthur's approval was something he craved now in the, he looked that the clock and saw they had been here for all but an hour. Wow, we moved fast, he thought and lead Arthur to his bed pushing him down on his back. "Take off your trousers and your pants," he whispered in his ear, "I want to see you." He quickly went to his bedside table and found a bottle of lube and a condom.

Arthur's skin erupted into goose bumps at the feel of Merlin's breath against his ear, and despite thinking it wasn't possible, he got even harder. He threw his head back on the pillows as he unzipped his trousers and pulled them and his red pants off. He reached down to fondle one of his piercings as he stroked himself slowly, moaning indulgently.

Merlin's mouth fell open and his breathing stopped. Arthur Pendragon was touching himself on my bed... Naked! And god, did he look perfect. The dull light was casting shadows across his toned body, making each dip and curve seem like chasm. And when he started to stroke himself and moan in that ungodly way... Merlin could stop the whimper that escaped his mouth. He stripped off his top and his dark blue briefs and climbed over to sit right next to Arthur, "Fuck you are so gorgeous."

Arthur immediately descended on Merlin, turning to face him. "Not nearly as gorgeous as you," Arthur whispered, kissing Merlin's jaw and neck softly, his thumb rubbing small circles on Merlin's hip. "You're perfect; I can't believe it took me so long to figure it out." He mumbled, nibbling at Merlin's earlobe. "We could've been doing this since we were 14, if I hadn't been such a dick."

"Oh, don't worry," Merlin moaned when he felt the sweet kisses being pressed against his jaw and the strong hands on his hips, "I loved provoking you. Why do you think I did it so often?" He was now straddling Arthur; their naked groins pressed together. Merlin was holding on to Arthur's shoulders and relishing in his soft touches. "Can we just stay like this forever?" He asked.

Arthur smirked, biting Merlin's jaw playfully. "I assumed you did it because you were a little shit who hated me." He mumbled, bucking his hips rhythmically against Merlin. "God, that'd be perfect. We could just drop out and make a living off of our art and have rampant sex all over this fucking cabin." Arthur whispered, chuckling. He leaned to suck gently at one of Merlin's nipples, rolling his hips upwards. "Can...Can I...my fingers, can I?" Arthur asked breathlessly, one of his fingers just brushing against Merlin's hole.

Merlin gasped when he felt Arthur's finger go down there. "Yes!" He moaned and rolled hips to meet Arthur's own. "And yes." He whispered into the blonde's ear, "We can just live here with our art and our sex; I don't think I would need anything else." then attacked his throat with open mouthed kisses.

"We should. We ought to just leave and don't tell anyone where we are; just you and I." Arthur whispered, moaning at the seductive kisses to his throat. He popped the cap on the bottle of lube, pouring some onto his fingers and rubbing it in so it wouldn't be cold. He didn't know how many times Merlin had done this before, but he definitely wanted to be the best. He teased at Merlin's hole with his fingers for a bit as he sucked marks onto Merlin's chest, muttering explicit promises and confessions of emotion. He pushed one finger in slowly, and immediately rubbed the finger against Merlin's prostate.

"Arthur!" He cried aloud, in probably the most embarrassing way ever. Feeling the finger slowly making its way in burned a bit, as it should do, but he had not expected Arthur to go straight for his prostate. The pleasure was overwhelming, and he didn't know how long he would last if he kept up that brilliant pace. "M-more, Arthur more, please." He was pushing himself back onto the man's finger, wanting more, so much more of Arthur.

Arthur smirked as he slowly pushed in another finger, using both fingers to cycle through slowly stretching Merlin and rubbing directly up against the boy's prostate. Merlin looked fucking fantastic, all flushed and breathless and wanting. "You look so pretty when you beg, love." Arthur muttered softly as he smiled smugly up at Merlin. The term of endearment rolled so easily off of his lips.

Merlin gave a shuddering breath and pushed back on his fingers so that they were fully inside him. He gave Arthur a sloppy kiss and moaned. No one had ever made him feel this good, and god! If Arthur's fingers weren't made of gold, then he wouldn't know what was real anymore; they just felt so bloody amazing. "I'm ready, now, please Arthur." He said incoherently.

Arthur's dick throbbed at the sight of Merlin grinding down and fucking himself on his fingers. Merlin must have been some sort of god, to look absolutely stunning like this, so horny and...Perfect. Arthur nodded, pulling his fingers out of Merlin. He rolled a condom onto his dick, moaning softly. He rubbed lube onto his erection, trying to keep from coming right there. He gripped Merlin's hips as he started to push inside of him, biting his bottom lip in bliss.

Merlin felt the blunt cock at his entrance and pushed down, ignoring the slight burn as it stretched him just that little bit more. He groaned when he was seated fully on Arthur's cock and just waited for a moment, then took a deep breath and lifted off, almost to the tip and then plunged back down again and again and again until he had a steady motion going. "Mmfhah! He cried. It was meant to be 'Arthur' but the words were lost in the pleasure of having Arthur's magnificent cock pounding into him. He had both hands on either side of the blondes head and was looking him directly in the eye.

Arthur moaned loudly as Merlin began to ride him harshly. Fuck, he was fairly sure his brains were being sucked out via his cock. He'd never been with anyone as simply /good/ as Merlin, it blew his mind. Merlin's eyes were locked on his as Arthur bucked up to pound Merlin with every thrust. It was more intense than anything Arthur'd ever felt, and he was barely aware of his soft chant/moan of Merlin's name mixed with low grunts. "Fuck, you're so fucking perfect. You're gorgeous." Arthur groaned as he gripped Merlin's hips tight enough to bruise.

"Ah! Yes!" Merlin almost yelled and closed his eyes when he felt Arthur's cock hitting his prostate with more precision than someone this far gone was expect to have. "Fuck, fuck, Arthur! I'm so close!" He brought a hand to his own neglected cock and started to tug furiously at it, doubling his efforts in grinding onto Arthur as he felt his ever present orgasm coming to head. He rolled them over so that Arthur was now on top of him and hooked his legs over his shoulders so that Arthur could go deeper.

Arthur growled in a way he wasn't aware he could as Merlin switched their positions. He gripped the sheets of Merlin's bed like a vice, slamming into Merlin shamelessly. He'd never been this rough with any of his partners, but he wanted to make Merlin come so hard he couldn't think straight. He bit and sucked at Merlin's neck and chest as he pounded into him, growling words of angry possession. He felt a tight coil in his stomach and knew he was close, but he sure as hell wouldn't come before Merlin. He kissed Merlin like his life depended on it, knowing Merlin's lips would be red and swollen from Arthur's bruising lips and teeth.

Heaven, that was what he felt like he could die from so much intensity. The pleasure of Arthur fucking into him like there was no tomorrow, combined with the intensity of their kissing and his own furious tugging at his cock was enough to make Merlin scream as he came into his hand. "Fuck Arthur!" The orgasm ripped from him was so fucking beautiful and he clenched around Arthur's still pounding cock, then his body went slack after the whiteness dissipated.

The sound of Merlin calling out his name in complete ecstasy was enough to drive Arthur over the edge. Two more forceful thrusts and Arthur came, moaning Merlin's name like he was some kind of porn star. He collapsed on Merlin's chest, burying his head in Merlin's neck and breathing like he'd just run a marathon. "Fuck. I love you. I'm sorry but I do." Arthur whispered, disregarding how early in their relationship it was to say something like that.

Unfortunately for Merlin, he did not hear Arthur's revelation; he was concentrating too hard on his breathing and was slowly slipping into unconsciousness. That was the best fucking shag he had ever experienced and now was ready to fall asleep in his loves arm - his mind ticked over that slowly and decided that he rather liked that and pulled Arthur around him. "Sleeping time now." He said quietly and patted the arm that was around his waist. He shuffled back tiredly and snuggled right back into Arthur's chest and fell asleep.

Arthur couldn't expect much better, after all, Merlin and he had only been anything resembling a couple for half an hour. He sighed; curling his arms around Merlin and holding him close as the boy fell asleep. Arthur was blissed out, still tingling all over from his orgasm. Merlin was definitely the best he'd ever had. He wanted to ask Merlin how he felt about being in a relationship with him, but he'd have to wait until Merlin woke up. And he was nervous, what if Merlin was just playing a joke on him? That would be...awful. But Merlin wouldn't do that, Merlin was too sweet to play tricks like that. Arthur kissed Merlin's temple before falling slowly asleep.

Merlin heard an annoying buzzing sound echoing throughout the bedroom. "What the fuck?" He mumbled and sat up, Arthur's arm still curled around his waist. He looked over the bed and saw Arthur's pants on the floor...Vibrating. Reaching over, he pulled out the offending object - and really, he didn't like the thing right now as it had pulled him from the warmth and comfort of snuggles with Arthur, then shook the sleeping man gently. "Arthur, you got a text." He whispered and kissed him on the corner of his mouth lightly.

Arthur groaned. "Probably several; I'm 99 percent sure I'm late for footie practice." Arthur admitted, putting his hands over his face in irritation. He sighed, and took his phone from Merlin's hands. Yes, 3 calls from his coach and 2 from Gwaine, and a text from Percy. "Fuck. I should probably go, it's only just started. And I'm the captain, I should be there." He explained, frowning. He kissed Merlin's forehead. "You could come, if you'd like? We could go to mine after."

Merlin smiled sadly and kissed him back. "Best not. We have our reputation to up hold... And you sorta seemed pretty keen earlier to keep your," he made a hand gesture, "You know - Wife and kids with a house and fence thing up. I mean..." He paused and looked out the window to the grey sky, "I really enjoy being with you," and looked back to Arthur's blue eyes and raised a hand to his cheek, "But I don't want to ruin anything for you..." It was hard for him to say because he actually /really/ wanted to do this, with Arthur, all the time; but with Arthur's expectations of himself, it was just too difficult and not fair of Merlin to try and change him now. "And also because it will be cold and I have a perfectly warm house here."

Arthur's expression fell. "But...I don't care. I want to be with you." He said softly, unable to meet Merlin's eye, afraid of being so vulnerable. "I mean, I understand if you don't...have feelings for me, but if it's a 'me' problem...I want to do something that I want, for once. I need to, if I'm ever going to stand up for myself." Arthur whispered.

Hearing Arthur talk like that made Merlin's heart swell and he lunged forward and captured Arthur's lips with his own. "I want to be with you too." He said breathlessly and smiled. He had ended up on top of Arthur again. "Okay, we'll as much as I love this position; I think we should probably get going...Wouldn't want you to get into trouble." He pressed a lasting kiss onto his lovers lips and climbed off the bed; wiggling his arse at Arthur as he tried getting his briefs on.

"Trust me, I'm already screwed." Arthur smiled despite the fact, rolling his eyes at Merlin's wiggling hips. He leaned forward and smacked Merlin's ass playfully. "Don't be such a little tease." Arthur said, climbing off of Merlin's bed and pulling on his jeans and t-shirt. "We'll need to stop at my house to get my kit." Arthur explained, stretching and yawning. He was sort of excited to go play now, now that he'd sorted things out with Merlin and had all of this happy energy.

Merlin nodded, "That's fine." He said and pulled on his T-shirt. They went back down stairs and he found his pants. "Oh, damn!" He cried, "My tea is cold, Arthur look what you did!" He smiled and hooked his fingers through the blonde mans belt, "if you weren't so sexy," and slowly trailed his fingers up the man's chest, "Then maybe I could have finished it."

Arthur snorted. "You're the one who told me I could kiss you. You should've known that I stop for nothing, Merlin." Arthur whispered, leaning to press his lips to Merlin's gently. "Really, it's your own damn fault for being so bloody perfect and moaning like a porn star while you drank your fucking tea. Years of unresolved sexual tension, and you're worried about cold tea." Arthur teased.

Merlin gasped and slapped him lightly on shoulder, "I was not moaning like a porn star!" He laughed. "And you wanna know something funny?" He leant forward and sucked on his earlobe. "I've _always_ found you attractive. It was so fucking annoying." He pulled back and smirked, placing his hands around his neck. "Do you remember that time last year when we bumped into each other and you spilt you coffee? Then you sorta got angry and grabbed me by the shirt? Hulk style." He laughed and leant forward again until they were almost touching, "I wanted to fucking song the shit out I you that day."

"Yes, you definitely were moaning like a porn star, you tease." Arthur smiled as he poked fun at Merlin. "Hm, I was somewhere in between wanting to snog you until you weren't able to say any more stupid words, and wanting to knock your lights out, to be entirely honest." Arthur admitted. "I was always so mad because you were so fucking gorgeous and I wanted a relationship with you. But I was scared, so I guess I tricked myself into believing it was something else." Arthur's voice went soft at his last words. "This is completely pathetic, but...you were the first boy I ever wanked to the thought of. I had no idea I liked men...until you."

"Oh, that is such a big fucking turn on." He moaned. "I'm going to have to watch you so that sometime...very soon." He kissed him. God, they really needed to go so Arthur wouldn't be late to practice, but he couldn't pull himself away from the blonde Adonis. After a few more minutes of blissful kissing he finally extracted himself from his boyfriend. "We really need to go or you're going to be /really/ late and I'm going to laugh while the coach makes you run laps."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Of course you would laugh at my pain." He teased, taking Merlin's hand and leading them outside. The trek back to the car was comparatively short, seeing as he wasn't about to explode with nervous energy now. He slid into his car, sighing. Today had turned out exceedingly better than he'd expected. "I'm honestly really, really happy." Arthur said quietly.

He reached over and grabbed Arthur's hand, smiling. "I'm really happy to." An odd look crossed his face, "I actually think I might explode." He said plainly. The drive to Arthur's house was peaceful. They talked about everything and anything, and even when they didn't talk, they would just sit in a companionable silence, holding hands. Arthur pulled up to his house and Merlin gaped, "What the fuck, Pendragon! You live here?" His house was fucking huge!

Arthur chuckled at Merlin's surprise. "It's even bigger when you're the only person in it most of the time." He said softly. He did hold some resentment towards the house, it reminded him of his father, and therefore made him feel a bit sick to the stomach. "I'll give you the tour after practice. I'll be right back." Arthur promised, pecking Merlin on the cheek and climbing out of the car. He ran in quickly, grabbing his footie bag and team jacket. It was red with Arthur's name and number embroidered over the heart. He rushed back out to the car, sliding in easily. He thrust his jacket into Merlin's lap. "It's cold out, you'll need it." Arthur said, trying his best to sound casual.

Merlin lifted it up and laughed a bit at seeing the name 'Arthur' stitched across the heart. "Well, if we were going to broadcast our relationship, there is definitely no better way than making me wear a jacket with you name across my heart. He shuffled and put in on, then zipped it up. "Oh my god! You are such a fattie," and leaned over to kiss him, "This thing is bloody huge on me." They arrived at the school field and parked up.

Arthur mock-pouted, "Shut up, I have a possessive streak. And I am not a fattie, Mr. You're The Hottest Thing I've Ever Fucked!" Arthur reminded Merlin, reaching to ruffle his hair. He sighed, collecting his bag, "Time to go watch your extremely hot and definitely not fat boyfriend play football."

Merlin smiled, "Mmm, possessive is sexy. Now come boyfriend, let's go shock people." He opened up the car door and stepped out into the cold weather. "Shit!" He breathed, "I'm glad you have me your jumper, its fucking freezing!" He walked around the car and linked and with Arthur.

Arthur held Merlin's hand tightly as they walked up the pitch, a bit nervous despite himself. "Gwaine might actually piss himself. Just yesterday I was saying you were the spawn of Satan." Arthur admitted, chucking softly. Seeing Merlin in his jacket made his heart beat a bit faster. That sort of claim, show of ownership over Merlin was...kind of amazing.

"Naww, is that really what you used to say about me before you fucked me? I'm hurt. Really I am." He smiled; he loved teasing Arthur and really wasn't taking too much to heart with anything that Arthur was saying about him. It was all old news where he was concerned. He squeezed their linked fingers and said softly, "I don't think Freya will be surprised...well maybe a bit," he admitted, "But I sorta interrupted her shagging time last night with my mini break down and confessed that I'd sketched you...yeah, no she'll be cool with it."

"Of course you did, you little cockblock." Arthur teased. He let go of Merlin's hand reluctantly when he reached the field. He leaned in and kissed Merlin firmly but softly, hands curling in his hair for a moment before he ran off to go meet his team. The first words out of Gwaine's mouth were: "about fucking time." Neither Gwaine nor Percy were shocked in any way. "What do you mean, you figured we were shagging for a while now?!" Arthur spluttered.

Merlin watched as Arthur ran out onto the field, admiring the way his arse looked in those trousers of his. Damn I am one lucky man; he thought and clicked his tongue in appreciation. He sat in that one spot for two hours straight, just trying to be the supportive boyfriend when he got a text from Freya.

'So you and Pendragon are a couple now, huh? Thanks for telling me arsehole! x' he sighed. Word sure gets around quick at their school, though he shouldn't have been surprised; there were other girlfriends here supporting their boyfriends and they would definitely seen Arthur kissing him. He just hoped like hell that Arthur didn't want to go back on what that had.

To be fair, Arthur did try to make things a little interesting for Merlin, pulling off his top halfway through the practice. "Show off." Gwaine had mumbled, but there was a definite smirk on his face. He couldn't help it; he thought Merlin should be rewarded for sitting through a practice simply to support Arthur. Arthur could see the girls glancing at Merlin, then back to him, then back to Merlin, and giggling. He rolled his eyes, though he wasn't surprised that the gossip had already started.


	4. Chapter 4

When practice was over and the guys where coming off the field, Merlin got down from his seat and walked over to where his boyfriend - God, he loved saying that, friend was just finishing talking to the couch. "You ready to leave yet?" He asked in a hopefully confident but not cocky way; the couch had never really like Merlin, mainly because he used to backchat to him all the time in their junior P.E classes and then decided not to come at all when he gave him the option of 'Shutting the fuck up and letting me teach my class, Emrys or you can just hightail your skinny arse out of here' he chose the latter, obviously.

Arthur grinned at the appearance of his boyfriend by his side. He took Merlin's hand in his and nodded. He pulled Merlin close to him for a moment, kissing him indulgently. "Two hours is a long time to wait to do that again." Arthur confessed, chuckling softly. He didn't care who saw now. The people who were actually decent human beings wouldn't judge him, and everyone else wasn't worth his time.

Jasmine and her best friend Sarah, both had boyfriends on the high school football team and just happened to be watching while Arthur grabbed Merlin and kissed him in that very sexy way that two guys do. "Sar, Oh my fucking god, look." She tapped repeatedly on her friends arm and pointed to the two boys making out on the field. Her eyes widened and she whistled, "Holy shit, Jazz! That is seriously hot!" Jasmine tutted at her best friend, "Sar, I'm pretty sure that Arthur Pendragon is making out with a guy and we haven't taken a Facebook photo yet. Get your phone out!" They took a few pictures and Jasmine posted them to her Facebook profile, tagging people to make sure they saw this, along with the caption 'ARTHUR FUCKING PRNDRAGON AND MERLIN EMRYS MAKING OUT ON SCHOOL FIELD...Pretty sure they hated each other yesterday; comments?' Jasmine looked over at her friend and smiled wickedly, "The world had a right to know; Arthur is going to break a few hearts with this one."

Within 10 minutes, Arthur's phone was buzzing wildly in his trousers, his facebook exploding with messages like: "what the fuck, man?","since when?!", and "called it, totally called it." Arthur sighed, looking at the picture of himself and Merlin kissing on the field. He didn't think people would actually take it to this level. Thankfully, he was not friends with his father, who thought facebook was some sort of corporate contraption that lured young people into orgies or something. He tugged on Merlin's arm. "Come here, we're taking a picture for my facebook."

Like Arthur's, Merlin's phone was buzzing too. Though he was getting a better reception than what his boyfriend was. People were saying things like; 'But I thought you had sworn to loath him for all of eternity' 'You move fast, my friend' that was Freya, obviously. One from his mother saying, 'Naww, you look so happy, darling.' and a happy one from Gwen congratulating them both.

When Arthur pulled him to his side he smiled for the camera in the first one and kissed Arthur soundly in the second one. "That'll teach those bitches!" He sighed happily, "You know, I bet you it was Jasmine Simons and her little cling on bestie." He said in a mocking tone.

Arthur nodded in agreement as he tapped at his screen, adding a caption for the photo. "Probably; wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. She did post a picture of Gwaine's dick to facebook when we were 14, and said he had herpes. And I'm fairly certain that, at the time, Gwaine didn't have any STDs at all." Arthur sighed softly.

"How does this sound?'To address the incredibly recent rumours: yes, Merlin Emrys and I are dating. Yes, as of yesterday we hated each other. How long I've been gay, why we've quite randomly changed our minds about one another, and all of the private details of our relationship are not anyone's business but ours. All you need to know is that yes, I am bisexual, and yes, I am dating Merlin Emrys. Feel free to address your complaints to anyone but either of us.'"

Merlin nodded and taped the screen to send it to the vultures probably waiting on the other side of the web, waiting eagerly for more updates and pictures. And considering Arthur was the most popular guy in school, with probably the most friends, everybody would know in a matter of minutes. "You know, as much as I love talking about you best friends dick" and Merlin laughed when Arthur's possessive streak showed again in the size of a growl, "But I do believe we have somewhere to be, wouldn't you agree?"

Arthur grinned in agreement. "Absolutely," He said, squeezing Merlin's hand before beginning the walk down the field and back to his car. He was ready to be alone with Merlin again. Everyone was so clinical and judgmental at their school, and it made Arthur yearn for the cabin again. "You know, dropping out and starting a two-person art/sex fest commune is sounding pretty fucking brilliant right now."

Merlin laughed and brought their linked hands to his mouth for a kiss. "I would you know...run away with you." He sighed and looked up to the clouds, "We could live at the hut and paint all day and then have sex all night, then the next day we would have to rotate it for diversity, obviously." He smiled again. "And no one would know where were, because as I said earlier, you are the only person besides me and my uncle who know where it is... And he's dead, so I don't think he will be telling anyone."

Arthur smiled delightedly at the thought. "We should, it would be the most perfect thing in the whole world. No one on this Earth to bother us or tell us what to do, and I could fuck you in so many different ways." Arthur said, leaning to bite Merlin's ear playfully. "We'll have to go for the weekend sometime. Obviously, my father wouldn't know and wouldn't care that I was gone, so whenever you're available..."

Merlin giggled and swatted Arthur away, "Don't do those sorts of things to me in public places. They make me want to rip your clothes off and fuck you... Not the sorts of thing people really want to see in a school car park." He waited by the car door for Arthur to unlock it and climbed inside the warmth of the car. "Fucking seriously! It was so cold out there." He reached over and turned on the heaters and started to shiver. "Also, your plan sounds like a good one, a very good one. I am free anytime you want to leave."

Arthur snorted. "With these people, you never know. That may be exactly what they need to boost their friend count." Arthur joked, every syllable dripping with sarcasm. He paused for a moment. "We could, couldn't we? Not just for the weekend, but for...as long as we felt like it. We could leave anytime we wanted. We're old enough to drop out, and we could sell our art to museums and shops. We could really get away from all of this, if we wanted to; just you and I."

Merlin didn't reply for a few moments then nodded his head. "Yeah, yeah we could. But maybe go to art school also, not just disappear off the face of the earth." He smiled and placed his hand on the inside of Arthur's thigh and rubbed soothingly. "Arthur I'm /so/ sorry for how I've acted towards you over these last few years. I actually had no idea that you had it so..." He couldn't even finish his sentence. It wasn't that he couldn't admit when he was wrong, it's just that it hurt to know that Arthur had been practically unloved all his life.

Arthur shook his head. "No, I deserved it. Just because I have problems at home doesn't mean I should lash out and push everyone else away because I'm afraid of being hurt." Arthur took a deep, shaky breath. "I was rude, arrogant, and a complete fool. I'm sorry for how I acted towards you, Merlin. You didn't deserve that."

"Okay, love, I forgive you, now can we stop with the whole 'sorry' thing? It's sort of weird after years of sexual tension and misplaced hatred." He sat back in his seat and continued rub circles in Arthur's thigh. "Do you think we could get something to eat? I like, actually haven't eaten all day."

Arthur laughed at Merlin's phrasing. "Of course we can. What do you want to eat?" Arthur asked, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He knew they could go wherever and do whatever, as Arthur had a credit card. Had he mentioned that? "It's on my dad, so feel free to be picky."

Merlin laughed, "And have him trace our movements when we run off to do our gay-hippy-art-sex-crazed thing? Nah ugh! And I just want some hot chips, which I can pay for myself." He pointed to a local chippy and asked him to pull over. "You gonna come in or do is it too 'un cool' to eat food that isn't rice or a coffee?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "For a boy who calls me fat on a regular basis, you sure do not understand dieting. But yes, as I am definitely paying for you because I am a gentleman and I want to, I will come in." Arthur stuck his tongue out at Merlin childishly.

Merlin leaned over and kissed Arthur on the lips and poked him in the tummy. "I'm only teasing you babe." And reached a hand under his shirt and ran his hands over his stomach and sides. "I know for a fact how _hard_ you are." And he whispered the last bit in his lover's ear.

Merlin's words sent a chill down Arthur's spine. "Fuck, Merlin. You can't just say things like that in public." Merlin's hands were soft and warm on his skin, and made Arthur want to immediately drive home and fuck Merlin until neither of them could even speak. He kissed Merlin soundly, pulling on his hair gently.

"What?" Merlin said with false innocence when he pulled back, "I was just talking about your muscles." He cracked a smile, opened the door of the car to get out and proceeded to walk into the shop, not even bothering to see if Arthur was following him. Merlin knew that he would anyways; he was cute like that and wouldn't be able to keep his hands off Merlin or be away from him or any length of time...Well maybe after they'd fucked a few more times, but not before.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Sure you were." he mumbled. Merlin was right, Arthur wanted to be as close to Merlin as possible at all times. Once they entered the shop, Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin's waist, kissing the top of his head affectionately. The idea of being away from Merlin made him antsy, and the prospect of going through classes without him (aside from English and Art) sounded like torture. He sighed.

Merlin was standing in the middle of the shop trying to decide what he felt like eating for dinner when Arthur snuck in behind him and wrapped him in his arms. He leaned back into the embrace and asked, "What are you gonna want? Because right now I'm thinking just hot chips with some sauce." He turned his head so that they were cheek to cheek looking up at the board.

Arthur chuckled. "Chips are not allowed. I'll get fat. If my coach doesn't kill me first." Arthur mumbled. "Is it pathetic to miss food? Because I do." Arthur hadn't had real junk food in what felt like ages. "I haven't had chips since I was 14. I'd only hit puberty a few months earlier and I still had my baby fat, and coach told me that if I wanted to play, I'd have to lose a shit ton of weight." Arthur sighed. He felt bad for himself. The only unhealthy food he was allowed to have, had to have some sort of meat content in it, purely to help him gain muscle.

Merlin frowned, "Okay, so maybe it's a pass on the chips... I wouldn't want your coach to kill you; would be a bit difficult trying to be with you and all that." He gave a small peck on his cheek and sighed, "We can go elsewhere if you like; find something that you _can_ eat."

Arthur shook his head. "No, love, It's alright." He said. "I'm not hungry anyways." Arthur was completely comfortable with the idea of keeping Merlin company while he ate. He was somewhat used to not being able to eat when he and his friends went out anyways.

"Are you sure?" He asked and went to place his order when Arthur nodded a firm nod. "Hi!" He burst out to the sour looking woman at the counter; he always liked doing that to people who needed cheering up. "How are you tonight?" The other woman smiled and said, "I'm alright, darling, now what can I gettcha?" He ordered a scoop of chips and then pondered for a moment, "And a sausage, my dear lady. Fried not battered." He said in voice very similar to one James Bond. The woman laughed and went to place his order after paying quickly.

Arthur smirked, kissing Merlin's ear affectionately. "You're a dork, did you know that?" he mumbled, running his hands up and down Merlin's sides indulgently. "But that's alright, because I absolutely l-...like you very much." Arthur recovered quickly, feeling heat rise to his cheeks.

Merlin laughed and snuggled into the warmth of Arthur's chest. "Yes, I do know I'm weird; that's just me." He grabbed one of Arthur's moving hands and wrapped it around his waist, then held it there with his own. "I 'l-like' you too." He said softly. He knew what Arthur was about to say, and it made his heart sing; but he had to remind himself that they'd only just got together today...they might be moving a bit fast.

Arthur blushed darker. He needed to remember what was socially acceptable and reasonable to say, and what wasn't. He'd never had a relationship before, so it was if all of those sorts of emotions came rushing forward after years of neglect. And he wasn't entirely sure how to handle that yet. He tried to calm his mind by catching Merlin's lips in a slow, soft kiss.

He and Arthur stood kissing in the middle of the empty shop kissing for what could have been years; it was kit so lovely, that everything else seemed to slip away. Then they were interrupted by a cough. "Alright love, here's ya dinner." She gave them both a warm smile as they walked out hand in hand.


End file.
